Keith Garner

There's no public holiday quite as relaxing as Boxing Day. The stress of Christmas Day and its family rituals is over. It's just you, the monster crossword, the cricket and a cold turkey sandwich as the cares of the world melt away.

The sheer numbers that attend the Boxing Day Test at the MCG indicate Australia has certainly moved into holiday mood. It's a pleasure to walk around Sydney because it's comparatively quiet. The crowds all head to the harbour to see the start of the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

Boxing Day's origins are best illustrated in the Christmas carol Good King Wenceslas. It was on ''the Feast of Stephen'' - St Stephen's Day - that the good King called for meat, wine and firewood to take to the poor.

Since the early days of Christianity, the day after Christmas Day has been associated with providing support for the needy - a time for generosity rather than the current day notion of reciprocity. Indeed Christmas would be more meaningful if we had less emphasis on the size of Christmas gifts and were more concerned to reach out to those in need.

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In people's working lives this generosity manifested itself in time off and gifts for servants, and a bonus from appreciative customers for tradies and service providers.

For the needy, there was the opening of the box of donations left at churches during Advent, and patronage of poor children by royal benefactors. This all seems a million miles from how we care for the needy today but we must remind ourselves that it was part and parcel of Boxing Day.

So in the Christian tradition, churches have always taken a keen interest in people spending Boxing Day with their families.

There have been many pressures on public holidays as our work lives have changed across the ages and quietly, almost surreptitiously, the case for opening businesses on Boxing Day gained strength.

Despite the images you see of shoppers storming the doors at Boxing Day sales, most shops in NSW are closed on Boxing Day. The Boxing Day sales have normally been limited to the CBD and declared tourist areas that are supposed to cater for travellers. Under current laws, shops that do open can only be staffed by employees who volunteer to work. Most people in greater Sydney actually spend Boxing Day with their family, friends and community, enjoying a day of rest.

However, if the exemption to trade was broadened to include more centres, as business groups have been advocating, companies would find it hard to staff shops with volunteers. Then pressure would mount on other staff to work rather than enjoy their precious little family time.

This is why Wesley Mission, the Uniting Church and a number of our Christian denominational colleagues were especially delighted last month, when we were able to convince the O'Farrell government to abandon its attempt to loosen the trading restrictions on Boxing Day.

The government's proposed Retail Trading Amendment Bill would have diminished the Boxing Day holiday as a restricted trading day, with more people having to work rather than spending time with their families. Those asked to work would be those with little voice to complain.

Wesley Mission and the Sydney Alliance - a coalition of churches, social groups and unions - campaigned strongly against this.

As the legislation was about to be debated in the Legislative Council we convened a forum at Wesley Mission to oppose the bill because it would erode family life. Unashamedly we had been in conversation with politicians and people of influence in our community. Thankfully there are those who saw things the way we did, and such concern came from all sides of politics.

In his benevolence good king Barry had his ministers withdraw the bill and Boxing Day was saved as a public holiday. But let's not imagine this is the end of the fight.

With business lobby groups already grumbling at the outcome, it seems the price of a public holiday is eternal vigilance. Nobody should be under any doubt that this is the thin end of a mighty wedge, which has Good Friday and Easter Day in its sights.

So as you contemplate the cold turkey, keep in mind how important Boxing Day is and how people have fought to keep it special for you and your family.

Reverend Dr Keith Garner is the superintendent and chief executive of Wesley Mission.

55 comments

I'm just waiting for Gerry Harvey to tell us that all retailers should be allowed to open on every holiday because it's unfair for people to sit at home and shop online.

Commenter

RobW

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 9:37AM

I'm not Gerry Harvey but if I own a business why should I be dictated to as to when I can open? If I was in Victoria I am allowed to trade on Boxing Day, I'm allowed to open on both THursday and Friday nights, hell I'm allowed to trade 24x7 if I want.

Victoria still has Good Friday and Christmas Day restrictions but de-regulated trading hours and giving traders a choice as to when to open and for how long has helped the industry in that state and contrary to popular belief the large retailers did not cannibalise the retail sector to the detriment of small businesses.

I was walking through Melbourne last Sunday night at about 8.30-9pm and some shops were indeed closed however those that were open in and around Bourke and Swanston Streets were doing a roaring trade with people who were finishing dinner at restaurants browsing and buying, and families shopping after looking at the Christmas displays. There were thousands of people still active and spending money which was great to see.

Perhaps the archaic views that are displayed in this article need to be politely ignored if we want a stronger retail sector in NSW.

Commenter

PD

Location

Sydney

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 10:04AM

Money, money, money, hey PD?

Commenter

Alex

Location

Sydney

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 10:14AM

You may not be Gerry Harvey, but please tell us which other retail operation you run. The point of the article is that businesses that open on boxing day are staffed by people who generally have no choice - i.e. staff. Do you see retail staff saying to their boss "I'm not coming into work, I'd rather spend it with my family on Boxing Day/Christmas"? Anyone doing so will watch their opportunities for advancement disappear, and if they're a part-timer or casual, their hours get cut. Then again, maybe you really don't work in retail - that would explain your ignorance. If you do, please pass my condolences on to your employees.

Commenter

The Ghost of Christmas past

Location

Ye Olde London Towne

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 10:24AM

PD, as long as you are working in your store and you aren't compelling your staff to work then go for it I say.

Commenter

Jofek

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 10:28AM

i noticed you dont mention penalty rates

Commenter

jools

Location

DaBra

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 10:45AM

Go for it PS.....I'm sure that many of your staff would welcome the penalty rates....oh but I forgot the retail industry is also trying to have Coalition governments legislate penalty rates out of existence too. Maybe if you offer staff X% of turnover.....what do you think?

Commenter

Pete the Pirate

Location

Ulladulla

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 10:58AM

I have worked in local hospitality for over twenty five years. Short order grill cook for over twenty five years is my fall back for a very very reliable income source if I require an extra dollar. My requirement for this steady supply of easy money is my looking at the needs of my family and me being empowered to promise them and then deliver. Most part is my involvement to fill in the gaps of an industry filled with the most naive and most pathetically starry eyed suckers in the business world... hospitality. My name is familiar in the south west of Sydney as that very last stop gap when all else fails to fill in shifts, and they pay me in buckets of tears and real money. I enter these places staffed entirely by high school children or part-time workers attempting to run businesses and franchises where the owners of the place are missing in action. Lawyer wives running food businesses, retired teachers running food businesses, drug dealers running food businesses.... nitwits believing that churning chips and a cheese sambo is free money funding their idle jaunts .... incapable of running their business, and paying me in a bucket of tears. For every one of these nitwits is a local business thriving, and serving their local neighbourhood. That is a local neighbourhood seeing the one face behind the counter, building a human relationship where their dollar is securing a local family. The local family business is working their guts out to supply to their neighbourhood.... and it is they under the greatest threat. Ill served is the local small family business as they have no true representation. Give “them” a bloody day off.... without them “family business”... KFC,Macca,Westfields is our local neighbourhood.

Commenter

CharlesC

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 11:06AM

Perhaps you should move to Victoria.

We live in an organised society in Australia and NSW governed by laws.

Laws confer rights and impose obligations.

Laws are passed by elected representatives in parliament.

It seems the law requires that certain shops are shut on boxing day. If you don't like it approached your MP. As long as the majority in parliament does not agree with what you want you just have to lump it.

If you rely on Boxing day for your businesss to survive perhaps you are not good at running your business. I suggest you take up a mining job in NW of WA.

It paywell and you get set days off.

The coles in a nearby shopping centre was oprn until midnight for a few weeks and now it is closing at 9.00 pm. It is obvious it wasn't financially successful to open and staff a shop for customer number you can count on one hand drung those extra late hours.

If one is really desparate to shop one can use the internet. Most stuff is cheaper there anyway and it may take a couple of days to receive the goods.

So stop complaining because that all one hears from retailer. If your goods are not overpriced I am confident you will sell the stuff from Monday to Saturday from 8.00am to 7.00pm.

Many people shouldn't be given to shop 24/7 because the can't afford it any and are just using credit cards to pay for it. Then later they have trouble paying the debt off.

It is sad that the nanny state exist . It is in order to protect large number of people from themselves. As they lackk the will and responsibility to lokk after themselves.

Commenter

sapphire

Location

sydney

Date and time

December 26, 2012, 11:07AM

PD, your comments betray the very root cause of the problem - selfishness.

Western society is utterly rank with it - an all-pervading virus that spreads like a pernicious cancer to each and every part of one's life: I, I, I.

As others have so wisely commented - there are many hundreds of days where the retail sector can flog its often unnecessary wares to those convinced they need something for a more comfortable life or greater social acceptance. We all used to get by with shops being closed on Sundays and there was not a single thing wrong with that.

"Archaic" views? Why?

Relationship-building time with friends and family has been slowly but steadily pushed aside by an ever-increasing push for more material goods, the almighty dollar and the advancement of selfishness. I mean, who cares about the time away from family for shoppers and workers - more money nullifies those "archaic" ideas, doesn't it.

If there were no sales on Boxing Day do you know what would happen? Life. People wouldn't queue up for ridiculous amounts of time to buy stuff they don't really need, to spend money in order to save it, or to push past others to make sure no-one else gets what they want before they do.

I'm reminded of a brilliant line from film that I often apply to Western "progress": "You were so preoccupied with whether or not you could that you didn't stop to think if you should!"

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